


Six Weeks

by pterawaters



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Episode Tag, Feelings, M/M, Phone Calls & Telephones, Post-Canon Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23479846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters
Summary: It takes a call from Jersey to get Danny to say the things he should've said before Steve left.
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 57
Kudos: 404





	Six Weeks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kho](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kho/gifts).



> Lol, I'm jumping on the fix-it fic bandwagon! Also, kho requested a "tourist/local AU" and this isn't an AU, but I hope you like it!
> 
> Warning: a short discussion about suicide happens in this fic

Danny’s in the middle of bothering Junior through his very specific way of making pancakes when his phone rings. Looking at it, Danny tells Junior, “Oh, hey. It’s Steve,” and picks up the phone. “Where are ya today?”

“Hello to you too, Daniel,” Steve says, and it sounds like he’s smiling. “What’s up?”

“You taught Junior how to make pancakes wrong, is what’s up,” Danny replies, giving Junior a smile and a wink.

Junior chuckles and shakes his head. 

“Is that right?”

Danny slips off the counter, his chest hurting more than a little, and replies, “Yeah. I had to unlearn him a bunch of crap to get him making them the right way.”

Danny heads out the kitchen door, wandering into the back yard, where Eddie is walking around, sniffing things. “So... where are ya? Still in Vermont?”

“No,” Steve says with a sigh.

“What’s that about?” Danny asks him. 

Steve sighs again, and this time it sounds forced. Fake. “I’m… Well, I’m in Jersey.”

Danny’s surprised laugh is bright and louder than he intended. “No shit? What part of Jersey?”

“Newark,” Steve says. “Just put Catherine on a plane back to D.C.”

“Yeah?” Danny asks. When Steve told Danny he and Catherine were traveling together, he didn’t really know what to expect. “What was that? Three days she made it this time?”

Steve laughs. “Something like that. I’m glad we’re just friends now.”

“You know, I’m not working right now. I coulda flown to the east coast for a few days.” Danny wanders down to the beach and sits in his chair.

Steve scoffs. “You’re not supposed to fly that soon after surgery. You coulda had an embolism.”

“You coulda stayed a few more weeks.”

The silence Steve gives him is damning, and Danny can’t stand it. 

“So, Newark, huh?” He digs his toes into the sand, watching the waves crash against the shore, and for the first time in at least a couple of years, it feels like the wrong ocean again. “Gonna check in on my parents for me?”

“Already made the call,” Steve says, his voice more relaxed. “Your Ma is making lasagna.”

“Oh, Jesus,” Danny mutters. “Eat before you go over. I swear, she puts ketchup in that dish. It’s an abomination.”

Steve laughs. “Tell me, as a Jersey native, what should I see first? Where should I go?”

“Go to Joey’s. Best pizza in Jersey. Tell ‘em I sent you, they might give you the friends and family discount.”

The laugh Steve gives him then is soft. “No, Danno. I meant besides food. Sights to go see.”

Leaning back in his chair and sighing, Danny says, “I don’t know. Atlantic City is nice this time of year.”

“No, somewhere _you’d_ go. As a local,” Steve demands. “Where would you go?”

Danny leans forward and rests his forehead in his hand. “You really wanna know where I’d go?”

“Yeah.”

Danny takes a long, cleansing breath. “I’d see my parents. My sisters. I’d go to Joey’s. I’d stop off in L.A. to visit Grace before she’s swamped with finals. And then…”

Steve’s voice sounds rough when he asks, “And then?”

Danny’s just gonna have to say it. “And then I’d come home.”

Steve sighs. “Danno…”

“If this house is too much for you, let’s sell it,” Danny says. “Hell, let’s move to one of the other islands. Let’s move to L.A.!”

“You can’t move away from Charlie, Danny! You can’t–”

“Yeah, well you can’t leave, either,” Danny tells him. “Not for long. Because let me tell you something. Peace isn’t some far-off place, you numbskull. It’s being with your family, with the people who love you.”

“Danny…”

“I’m not–” This is hard to say, but like hell is Danny letting the chance to say it slip away again. “I’m not saying come back to Five-0. Hell, I’ll quit, too. We can be PIs like that guy with the fancy car. Just come _home_.”

There’s a long silence and Danny looks at the screen of his phone, just to make sure the call hasn’t disconnected and he hasn’t been baring his soul to the air, like a jackass. But no, the call timer is still ticking away.

Eventually, Steve says, “You’d– you’d do that? Quit? For me?”

“I mean, I’m not gonna love a life of poverty, or anything,” Danny says, earning a wet-sounding laugh from Steve. “But yeah. I would. And if you need some more time, so be it. All I ask is that you give me a date. A day I can circle on my calendar and count down to.”

“And, uh,” Steve clears his throat. “What would happen on that date?”

God, there’s so much left unsaid, and still, Danny doesn’t know how to say it. He’s good with big feelings, even better with small ones, but this? It feels like a whole galaxy in comparison. He shakes his head and says, “You and me, in the same room. Whatever you’re up for, I’m game.”

“Danny, that sounds–”

“ _Whatever_ you want, Steve. You don’t have to go looking all the way over in Jersey, or Vermont, or even fucking Timbuktu. Your family is here. And the way…” Danny chokes and has to clear his throat. “The way you left me here. Left me behind. It sucks. And it hurts, and yeah, I get it if you need some time. Hell, spend a whole month in Vegas, if you want. Just don’t… Don’t leave and give me no idea when you’ll be back. Don’t leave and then expect to be able to come back into my life whenever you want. I did that dance with Rachel long enough. I’m over it.”

Steve sniffles, and _good_. At least Danny’s finally getting through to him. Then he asks, “How about six weeks? Is that too long?”

“Six weeks is fine. It’s perfect. Hell, at this point I’d take six months. Two _years_. As long as I know when it’s gonna be over, I’ll get through it. For you.”

There’s another one of those long silences and Danny wipes the tears off his face, pushing at his runny nose and wiping it on his shirt like a child.

“I’m gonna sell the house,” Steve says eventually. 

“Fine, good. I want you to sell it.”

“And I’m not coming back to Five-0. I’m too old to keep up and too … well, too _me_ not to want to try anyway.”

Danny laughs, wiping away a few more tears. “Control freak.”

“Six weeks,” Steve says, and it sounds like a promise. Then he asks, “Were you serious about moving to L.A.?”

“Totally. Rachel’s been bugging me to let her and Charlie move back to the mainland ever since Grace left for school.”

“I spent a lot of time in San Diego when I was a SEAL. We could move there. I could show you around.”

“Perfect. I love it,” Danny says. “And, hey, we could still come back to the island once in a while. Visit everyone.”

“Okay,” Steve says, and it’s not the most determined way he can say the word. It sounds more like a capitulation. A surrender. 

Damn, he _is_ getting old.

“This isn’t all or nothing,” Danny tells him. “It’s not my way or the highway. It’s just me asking if we can come to some sort of– of _compromise_. Where you get to put your demons to rest and I…”

“You get what?” Steve asks him. “Me coming home? Is that it? You and me in the same room? For how long? And then what? We go to our separate houses and–”

“No!” Danny cuts him off. “You haven’t been listening, Steven! My house never had a mold problem. I sold it!”

Jesus, Danny feels like he could cut this silence with a knife.

Eventually, Steve asks, “When?”

“Just after we got back from D.C.,” he admits. 

Yeah, it had caused some problems with Charlie and the custody agreement, but by then Danny’s relationship with Rachel had been friendly and ultimately platonic enough that he didn’t worry too much. Steve needed him around way more than Charlie needed a house that didn’t have Steve living in it.

Still sounding confused, Steve asks, “Wh–why? Why would you do that?”

“Because,” Danny says, “for a few weeks there I was so scared. I was scared that if I wasn’t there some night, and you were feeling too alone…”

“What? What were you afraid of?” Steve demands, but only in a whisper.

“Honestly?” Danny asks, and when Steve doesn’t respond, that’s his answer. “I was afraid you were gonna end up eating a bullet. And that Junior would have to be the one to find you. And I couldn’t… I couldn’t let him go through that.”

“Yeah, him go through that. Sure,” Steve repeats, his voice soft, like he’s thinking it over. Eventually, he admits, “I got… When you were in surgery, and we weren’t sure you were gonna make it, I got close.”

A sob escapes Danny and he has to cover his eyes with his hand. “Jesus, Steve…”

“Yeah,” he agrees.

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Me too.”

Danny takes a moment to calm down, taking deep breaths and letting them out slowly. Eventually he asks, “So, six weeks, huh?”

Steve doesn’t speak for a second, and Danny checks again to make sure the call hasn’t dropped. It hasn’t. 

But then Steve asks, “When do your doctors think you could fly?”

Something like a smile spreads across Danny’s face. “Another two or three weeks. Why?”

“I wanna meet you in San Diego. Show you around before we make any big decisions.”

“I’d like that,” Danny says. “Maybe we can time it so we can see Grace for a bit between finals and her flight home for the summer.”

“That sounds like an excellent plan,” Steve says, and it sounds like he’s smiling. Then he says, “Hey, Danno?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Danny smiles and licks his dry lips. “I love you, too.”

“I will talk to you later?”

“Yeah, you’d better,” Danny replies. 

After hanging up, Danny spends a few long moments just staring out at the ocean, again hating how much water there is between here and New Jersey. 

Eventually, Junior comes out of the house. He hands Danny a plate and a fork, saying, “Looked like quite the phone call.”

Danny ignores the commentary and takes the plate. “Thanks. Looks like you did a good job. Perfect shade of golden brown.”

Junior nods and looks out over the ocean, too. “Is he coming home?”

Danny shrugs and says. “Not for a while. And kinda.”

“Kinda?”

“I think he’s finally starting to realize that home isn’t really a place.”

“Ah.”

Danny looks over at Junior, and yeah. He gets it. Probably a lot better than Danny did at his age. 

“You’d better eat. Eddie is notorious for stealing breakfasts.”

Junior laughs and nods. “Yeah. Yeah, he is.”

Two hours later, Danny’s phone buzzes with a message from Steve. He opens it and it’s a selfie of Steve with a slice of pizza in his mouth. Danny laughs and replies. 

_ Not sure whether I’m more jealous of you or the pizza _ .

Steve texts back, _Lol_.

Then another text comes through, and this time it’s a date. Danny opens his computer and starts shopping for plane tickets, HNL to SAN.


End file.
